Elements in the Restrictive Relative Clause: Resumptive Pronoun or Null Operator

ersian relative clause is a post-nominal subordinate clause; that is, Persian relative construction which can be followed by a demonstrative has ‘Det N RC’ word order. The configuration of relative structure follows the base generated analysis: head noun base generated in the Spec, DP which is co-indexed with pronoun inside the relative clause. In the present study, it is proposed that a base generation analysis of the head noun and its optional determiner in the Spec of the complex DP accounts more adequately for Persian data than raising analysis. Unlike English relative construction which uses the null operator, Persian relative construction allows a gap and an optional clitic pronoun to represent the head noun within the relative clause. The study sought to provide evidence supporting the above mentioned analysis. It was found that the relative element which occupies the relative gap is the pronoun clitic agreeing ɸ-features with that of relative head noun